Blizzard have responded to the class action lawsuit over the sale and effectiveness of online Authenticators, calling the move "frivolous" and saying the claim is "filled with patently false information." The company go on to say that "we will vigorously defend ourselves through the appropriate legal channels." Vigorously! That's legal speak for "it's on."

The suit claims that Blizzard's Battle.net Authenticators, the optional £8.99 security check available to account holders, constitutes a hidden cost. It's also, the plaintiffs say, one that doesn't work as advertised, claiming that there have been multiple security breaches that have compromised the data of Battle.net accounts.

Blizzard's statement leaves no doubt as to what they think of these accusations. "The suit’s claim that we didn’t properly notify players regarding the August 2012 security breach is not true. Not only did Blizzard act quickly to provide information to the public about the situation, we explained the actions we were taking and let players know how the incident affected them, including the fact that no names, credit card numbers, or other sensitive financial information was disclosed."

They go on to argue that the lawsuit is misrepresenting the purpose of the authenticator to begin with. "The suit also claims that the Battle.net Authenticator is required in order to maintain a minimal level of security on the player’s Battle.net account information that’s stored on Blizzard’s network systems. This claim is also completely untrue and apparently based on a misunderstanding of the Authenticator’s purpose. The Battle.net Authenticator is an optional tool that players can use to further protect their Battle.net accounts in the event that their login credentials are compromised outside of Blizzard’s network infrastructure."

They state that the Authenticator is only a check against a player losing their password through phishing scams, viruses and dodgy websites. Coupled with the fact that the authenticator is an "an added inconvenience during the log in process," Blizzard say that they chose to leave it as an optional step.

To wade into the murky legal wrangling a second, while it's true that the Authenticator is technically optional, it's still a requirement for certain Battle.net services, specifically Diablo 3's Real-money Auction House. But while the plaintiff's had the chance to shine a light on the practice, it seems to have instead dived head-first into the realm of "what, seriously?" One of the actions the suit is seeking is to remove Battle.net from Blizzard's non-MMO titles. Because that's a thing that is going to happen.

Thanks, Game Informer

Developer Aubrey Hesselgren has released a video of his "completely unofficial 3D version" of Super Meat Boy, which he whipped up for Tommy Refenes' (one half of Team Meat) 30th birthday. Using Unity and Blender, Hesselgren - also known as HilariousCow - combined SMB's bloody walljumping with the wraparound worlds of Super Mario Galaxy, and the result is a demo/proof-of-concept that's far better than many commercial attempts to move a 2D series into the third dimension.

Of course, with this being a birthday present - and "a bit of a training exercise" - Hesselgren has said that he probably won't release it to the wider world. At least we'll always have this video, which shows that it is possible to convert something like Super Meat Boy into 3D, if you take the time to get over the camera hurdles. Can someone do Binding of Isaac next, please?

For Beyond Good and Evil fans, the wait for a sequel has been something of an emotional rollercoaster. A rubbish rollercoaster admittedly, one that oscillates between "this is going to take forever" and "oh god, it's actually never going to happen." In that spirit comes today's news: yes, it is going to happen, but yes, it's still going to take a while.

Speaking to Polygon, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that while the company, and lead developer Michael Ancel, continue to work on the title, Ancel's other commitments are keeping him busy.

Specifically Rayman, which seems to be something of a priority for Ubisoft after Rayman Origins unexpectedly turned out to be brilliant. According to Guillemot, "what's very important is that Michel Ancel is kind of doing too many things at the same time. He was working on Rayman Origins last year, and he's working a lot on Rayman Legends this year. So, you know, when he does that, he kind of puts too much of his time on the other projects that he has. So the fact is, that working on Legends is slowing the process on Beyond Good and Evil 2."

He was clear, though, that it was a project that they were both still passionate about. "It's really a game that we've been working, we have worked on, and is a game that we want to do. But there are so many things that have to be done that, you know, this one is going to come in line at one point, but at the moment Michel is really on Rayman Legends."

Which makes sense. Beyond Good and Evil's critical praise didn't lead to impressive sales for the title. That the company still periodically reassures us that the sequel is in the works at least suggests that it's a project they believe in. Let's just hope that Ancel's other commitments keep him too busy to add another bloody inverted controls boss fight into it.

Thanks, RPS.

Yesterday we reported that around 1,000 buyers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 had discovered their disc 2 contained not more military manshoot, but BioWare's space epic Mass Effect 2. Embarrassing for Activision, sure - supplying their customers with one of their rivals biggest franchises probably wasn't high on their key strategies - but it was always going to be EA's reaction that proved the most interesting.

Do they press the big red "deploy lawyers" button, or the smaller, dustier "have a bit of fun with it" button? Fortunately, for now, it appears to be the latter. Bioware have issued a blog post to the affected players, questioning whether it was a mistake or "an omen."

"If the universe thinks that you should be playing Mass Effect right now, who are we to argue?" In that spirit they've guaranteed to give the first 50 people to send them a picture of their swapped disc to community@bioware.com a free code for the entire Mass Effect trilogy.

Of course, as this video shows, the affected discs were still printed with a standard Black Ops 2 picture. But surely no-one would think to send a picture of a regular old disc in the knowledge that nobody could tell the difference. Right?

The Star Citizen alpha build is still but a faint glimmer on the horizon, but developer Roberts Space Industries has released a short gameplay video anyway, in an effort to sate fans who are funding the game via Kickstarter. As RSI points out in a blog post, the footage is very rough, but its main aim is to "show off some of the preliminary AI work that's been done".

"This video isn't as polished as I would normally put out so please be nice, as we're 24 months away from anything that would be called final, and even 12 months away from just a multiplayer alpha dogfighting build," the blog continues.

Many of the effects displayed in the below video are placeholder, including the laser effects and explosions, but the universe itself looks very slick indeed, and RSI promises to incorporate techniques used in film - which is probably why creator Chris Roberts said last week the game has little hope of running on even next-gen consoles.

At the time of writing, Star Citizen has attracted nearly $3,500,000 support via Kickstarter and the RSI website. You can throw your weight behind it here.

Yes, traffic's ubiquity in our lives often turns mornings into a march to Mordor and renders afternoons into a soliloquy with your radio tuner as you wait to move another half-inch, but it's also a necessary element of authenticity as far as vehicle simulations are concerned. The skies above take no exception. Enter Traffic 360, an update to Just Flight's Traffic X add-on (via PCGamesN) furnishing Flight Simulator X with fleets of AI planes taxiing on airport tarmacs and taking to the air using over half a million real-world flight schedules and plans.

Landing as either a $30/£20 standalone on November 16 or $22/£15 upgrade available now, Traffic 360 fills your sim sessions with nearly 2,500 aircraft variants such as commercial jets, military craft, and helicopters. No, mauve-bladed gyrocopters aren't included.

Bonus driveable ground vehicles such as pushback trucks and friendly follow me cars provides a grounds-eye view of an airport in full bustle, and mannable control towers provide a soft '70s style chair to observe takeoffs and landing from above. Thankfully, you can leave the actual harrowing work of directing giant, flying hunks of metal to the computer. Take a look at Just Flight's website for more info.

Guild Wars 2's crab-tacular Lost Shores update, launching November 16, will introduce Ascended gear as an intermediary bridge between the current Exotic and Legendary gear tiers. ArenaNet's explanatory post reveals how a critical mechanic of Lost Shores' new Fractals of the Mists dungeon underscores Ascended loot's importance in addition to combating the so-called "Legendary wall" encountered by end-game players.

"Our desire is to create a game that is more inclusive for hardcore and casual players alike, but we don’t want to overlook the basic need for players to feel like they are progressing and growing even after hitting max level," ArenaNet Game Designer Linsey Murdock wrote. "Adding item progression is a delicate process normally undertaken in an expansion, but we feel it’s important to strive to satisfy the basic needs of our players sooner rather than later."

A stat comparison between an Ascended ring (left) and an Exotic ring (right).

See, the salty scoundrels populating Fractals inflict Agony during combat: a stacking, uncleansable debuff slowly ticking away percentages of your health. Slotting the new Infusion upgrade within your Ascendancy duds shields you from the condition, a necessary step for progressing further into the dungeon for more loot. Wheel-shaped movement analogies spring to mind.

Murdock also stated current Legendary items will receive stat bumps to Ascendancy's level to maintain the appeal of undertaking the enormous resource and time efforts to get them. Of course, the stats afford by Ascendancy gear trumps Exotic items in nearly every way, defining a very apparent gear progression curve set forth by ArenaNet.

Like most MMOs, more gear means more risk for power creep—the gradual unbalancing of a game due to successive item tiers. Murdock wrote "complimentary Ascended and Legendary items" will be handed out as more high-level content unlocks in Tyria. The November Lost Shores update will provide Ascended rings and back items, with additional slots appearing in subsequent updates in the future.

The good people at TF2 Mixup (actually a collaboration between Gamers United, Vanilla TF2, eXtv, and Kritzkast) are gathering another League of Extraordinary Internet People to fight for the benefit of Doctors Worldwide in Team Fortress 2. Announced today, the line-up includes StarCraft 2 emissary Day, TF2 creator Robin Walker, YouTuber Freddie Wong, Notch, Counter-Strike pro cArn, and me, apparently.

The match will take place in early December. More importantly, you can win a chance to play alongside us by donating to Doctors Worldwide through the tournament. The more you donate, the higher your chances of earning a spot on the server. How much are you willing to spend for a chance to shoot Tay Zonday with TF2 weapons?

The last TF2 Mixup, videoed below, was a happy success, raising $14,462.25 for Child's Play.

http://youtu.be/EQFt9oHQ89w

Microsoft's leadership echelon experienced a shakeup in its Windows division yesterday with the sudden departure of President Steven Sinofsky for unexplained reasons. Sinofsky oversaw and was responsible for the development of both Windows 7 and Windows 8. Microsoft's official announcement states the mutually agreed decision takes effect immediately.

One of Sinofsky's major highlights as boss of the Windows division was delivering the well-received Windows 7 following Windows Vista's poor reception, validating his efforts to refocus the Windows brand.

The Verge's report elaborates on Sinofsky's split not arising from lukewarm reactions to Windows 8's launch. Instead, anonymous sources claim Sinofsky's "abrasive and off-putting" personality clashed with Microsoft's collaborative ethic.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company's "incredible foundation" of products will progress as normal. Recently, Microsoft revealed its restriction of DirectX 11.1 to Windows 8.

It's become a cliché to compare every first-person puzzle game to Portal, but Deadlock sort of insists on it by spotlighting a floating AI cube which speaks in vocoded tones that very nearly replicate GLaDOS's disharmonious voice...except with a French accent. But hey, Portal's not a bad inspiration, and Deadlock's sci-fi platforming is promising. A team of French developers created the prototype as a 7 Day FPS Challenge project, and recently began seeking funding via Ulule to spin it into a fully-realized game.

The goal of Deadlock is to ascend a high-tech beanstalk while avoiding the wrath of its AI security system by A. jumping, and B. using your "Switch Gun" to turn the tower's systems on and off. The Unity Engine is artfully used to render sleek gunmetal and neon architecture, and the gameplay concept has legs. Or, at least, you have legs. To jump with, because jumping and air control are important in Deadlock. The gravity feels a bit strange, like the parabola of my jump plateaus for a moment at its vertex, but it is nice to use double-jumps again. I want more double-jumping.

But as LeVar Burton would say, don't take my word for it: a demo of the game can be downloaded from the official site. The developers are only seeking €3,500 (~$4,448/£2,799) to polish the existing 7 Day FPS game, but hope for €32,000 to fund full solo game, and plan to add multiplayer if they reach €66,000. The campaign has currently raised 63 percent of its minimum goal with about a month to go.